Constants
by Vanille Strawberry
Summary: This hour was a constant. She supposed it would remain so for the rest of her life. AU, Kataang Oneshot.


**Disclaimer**: **I do not own Avatar the last Airbender. I own a slinky. THEY FALL DOWN STAIRS!**

A/N: Umm ... hi?

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-Constants-

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Katara sighed against the windowpane, watching the flurry of snow from the cover of her duvet, holding a hot cup of tea steaming lazily into the frozen air. She watched the moon lose face and the stars turn in. She anticipated the sun from over the little red roofed homes and watched anxiously for the paperboy to come speeding on his bike making his rounds.

She searched for a constant.

Her lips found the edge of the cup and she let the warm liquid slide down her throat. Her eyes blinked away tears because the stinging heat was scalding her mouth but Katara did not stop her drinking. When the cup had been successfully drained, she placed it to one side of the windowsill, leant her elbows against it and let out a cough.

Four am. Katara woke everyday at four.

She was not an early bird, and before the clock had the chance to strike five she could be found slumbering in her bed once again. Nevertheless, she had not broken this habit for the past ten years. Katara had an inkling as to why she was doing this, this thing of getting up at such an inhuman hour, but really, she hadn't the heart to stop. It would be like losing a part of herself in the process.

Her phone rang. Another constant.

She let the ghost of a smile sneak its way onto her lips and took the phone in fumbling hands. This also was positioned on the windowsill for exactly this situation. It had not moved from that spot. Ever. Putting it to her ear Katara closed her eyes and waited for the familiar voice to resonate through her mind.

"Katara?"

Her faded smile became more pronounced and she opened her eyes to wander the blanketed streets, a carpet of white trapping the grass and flowers. The paperboy passed her home, his bike struggling through the snow, heavily dressed and successfully insulated.

"Hello, Aang."

"What are you doing up?" Right there, another constant. Her life was just chalked full of them really.

"Dealing with things way beyond my maturity level. You?" her voice sounded faint to Katara's own ears, due to the scalding tea she supposed.

"Checking on you, as always. I get worried you know," the sound of his voice, gentle and soft had her on edge. Why was he trying to dissuade her into continuing her tradition?

"I know you do." she had not meant for it to sound so bitter but Katara supposed that was due to the frozen air in her room. She hadn't put on the heating. "You don't need to ring me every day. I get enough of that from Sokka."

He sighed heavily on the other end. Katara could not bear to imagine the look on Aang's face. He had always been very sensitive, even as kids and the leap from child to adult had not diminished this particular trait. It made her stomach tighten.

She shook her head and let out a breath, "What are we doing? Look--- you really should be in bed."

"You should too."

Katara rolled her eyes and followed a snowflakes fall with her eyes, "I'm used to getting up early. I bet you just woke up, your sure sound like you did."

Aang tried to stifle a yawn and replied grouchily, "Am not tired! Excuse me for worrying about my wife."

Katara giggled despite herself, she put it down to the added amount of time she was spending with Toph, "You're excused."

There was a silence, the kind that is only shattered by the howling wind and the creaking of an old house. Shadows became longer and Katara's warm breath flickered slightly in the dim light sourcing from the orange street lamp outside.

"There wasn't anything you could've done. You know that right?" his voice was like velvet.

Katara dipped her head, "I know."

"Then why continue this?"

She knew Aang meant her tradition. The nightly excursions to the window in the dead of night. She suppressed the indescribable urge to start screaming and howling and displaying every feeling she had ever felt in her life. The effort left her out of breath.

"Why do you shave your head?" she replied.

Katara felt Aang stop, "Because I love Gyatso."

She closed her eyes, "I do this because I love my mother."

Aang groaned and she heard him mutter intangibly under his breath, "It's today isn't it? That's why this conversation is dragging. You'd be in bed right now, but it's today isn't it?" he muttered a few times and Katara felt the beginning of tears spring unmercifully to her eyes.

She swallowed a sob, "Y-yeah, it's today. Mom died today at four am in the morning. Mom left me today at four am in the morning. Knowing that, knowing this constant … I don't know-- it just makes me get up."

There was no response, just the rustle of keys and the clanking of doors. Katara heard Aang's panting on the other end and some strange voices meshing with the unusual noises. She picked up on one voice she knew belonged to Zuko. Aang was away visiting the King at his holiday home in Texas.

"Katara, I'm on my way home. Go back to sleep."

She smiled and let the tears fall, Katara put it down to the utter devotion and love that they shared, and said, "Okay, Aang. I love you."

"Love you too."

_Click._

She put the phone down and stole one last glace out the window. The snow was beginning to thaw, the moon had disappeared, and the stars were slowly fading one by one. The sun was rising and the grass and flowers were battling their way through the thinning snow. That was another constant.

She returned to her bed and wrapped herself warmly under the covers. In the corner, the clock blinked.

_5:00 am_

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A/N: Oh, dear Gosh! I hate this. Really, really hate it. I hate it so much that I'm gonna print it and use it as toilet paper. Oh, dear ...

Explanations? I decided Zuko is the King of Spain. Of Spain I say! I don't know why, I supposed my thought at the time was that Spain was hot. And firebenders like the hot. Why is his holiday home in Texas? Cuz I want to visist Texas someday. I've got this picture of it in my head with cowboys walking around and lots of bulls and rodeos.

Aang is like a delegate or something and Katara can't travel with him because she's got a bad case of Regret-of-Death blues. Ya know, incidently, the only reason I wrote this was because I love picking at Katara's feelings and thoughts on this perticular subject.

And why is this in the modern world (AU) ? ... I DON'T KNOW! I just really wanted them to have a phone conversation. I _never _have any characters talking on the phone!

Ever gotten up at four in the morning? I have. For a solid month. To _study_, no less. It's actually quite refreshing.

Slán,

Vanille Strawberry


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